


You Can Count On Me

by IBoatedHere



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Uncle Shitty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 15:45:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9278504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IBoatedHere/pseuds/IBoatedHere
Summary: “Hey, Bits. You’re probably still asleep. It’s quarter after five here so that means it’s what….seven-fifteen in Rhode Island? The time differences have been screwing me up all week but I’m pretty sure that’s right. You’ve definitely hit the snooze buttons a few times at least. Anyways, I’m just calling because I’m still at the airport. There’s a snowstorm coming into Denver and they’ve delayed a ton of flights. It sucks but I promise I’m going to make it in time, okay? You don’t need to worry about it. A promise is a promise and I’ll be there even if I have to Trains, Planes, and Automobiles my way home…….shit. They just delayed us again. But I’ll be there. I love you. Both of you. I’ll call you when we start to board. See you soon.”





	

_“Hey, Bits. You’re probably still asleep. It’s quarter after five here so that means it’s what….seven-fifteen in Rhode Island? The time differences have been screwing me up all week but I’m pretty sure that’s right. You’ve definitely hit the snooze buttons a few times at least. Anyways, I’m just calling because I’m still at the airport. There’s a snowstorm coming into Denver and they’ve delayed a ton of flights. It sucks but I promise I’m going to make it in time, okay? You don’t need to worry about it. A promise is a promise and I’ll be there even if I have to Trains, Planes, and Automobiles my way home…….shit. They just delayed us again. But I’ll be there. I love you. Both of you. I’ll call you when we start to board. See you soon.”_

“Shi-.” He stops and turns around to see Olivia staring up at him from across the breakfast table. “Shoot.”

“Papa’s not coming is he?”

“He’s trying real hard, sweetheart.”

She sighs and suddenly looks much older than a girl at seven should. “That’s what you always say.”

That’s only because it’s always true.

Jack tries so hard but he can’t control the weather or traffic or four game roadies on the West coast.

He does his best to race against the clock but more often than not he’s meeting them in the parking lot _after_ a dance recital or school play still in his wrinkled post-game suit. He’d drop to one knee and throw his arms out so Liv could run into them and wrap her arms around his neck. She never cared that his eyes were a little bloodshot from lack of sleep and worry and that he smelled like recirculated cabin air.

 _“Tell me all about it, I’m so proud of you,”_ he’d say before she even got a word out and as she babbled along Jack would stand and hold her at his hip with one arm so he could reach the other back so Bitty could take it. 

It used to be enough for Olivia. She used to be excited just to see him but lately the cracks are starting to show and Bitty’s not sure what to do.

At the last recital that Jack had showed up late for (he managed to catch the last five minutes) Olivia had given him a brief hug and hadn’t let herself get picked up. She didn’t even let go of Bitty’s hand. Jack’s smile had faltered and Bitty felt his heart ache.

“Who do you want to go home with, kiddo,” Bitty asked even though it had always been Jack. They’d walk to Jack’s truck together with Olivia talking a mile a minute and Jack would listen to every word. They’d finally make it home an hour after Bitty and Olivia would have sticky, ice cream covered fingers and Jack would kiss the disapproving look right off of Bitty’s face.

_“It’s 7:30, Jack.”_

_“She deserves it.”_

_“She’s never going to sleep tonight.”_

_“Then I’ll stay up with her.”_

But Olivia was already turning away and tugging Bitty with her when she said “Daddy, let’s go,” and if Bitty’s heart was aching before it shattered right then.

“No ice cream?” Olivia asked when they drove past the exit.

“That’s something you and your father do. You chose to ride home with me.”

After he got her ready for bed he found Jack standing in the dimly lit kitchen leaning back on the counter. His tie was loose around his neck and his jacket was off with his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows but he looked anything other than relaxed.

“Do you want some dinner?” Bitty asked, opening the fridge and pulling out Tupperware. “There were plenty of leftovers.”

“I’m losing her,” he said, voice so rough with emotion Bitty almost didn’t understand him.

_Almost._

He shut the fridge and stepped in front of him.

“You’re not losing her.”

“I am. I’m missing everything. I’ve missed everything, just like my father did and look how that turned out.”

“You really think it happened because of that?”

“It didn’t help.”

“You’re not your father.”

Bitty winced at how many times Jack had heard that before. He didn’t mean it like that.

Jack huffed a laugh. “Yeah, I know.”

Bitty stepped closer and wrapped his arms around his waist. Jack put one hand on his back and ran the other through his hair.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“I don’t want her to. It’s not her fault.”

“It’s not yours either.”

“Feels like it.”

Bitty didn’t know what else to say so he didn’t say anything.

Jack heaved a sigh and unwrapped himself from the embrace and kissed the side of his head before walking down the hall to their room.

Jack had been thrilled when Bitty told him that Olivia had gotten a part in the school play.

He came home late after a home game and flopped into bed, almost entirely on top of Bitty, sleepy and happy from a win.

“Are you up?”

“You’re crushing me, of course I’m up.” He elbowed him and Jack rolled to the side. “Congratulations.”

Jack hummed and slid a hand into Bitty’s hair. “How was your day? How was Liv’s day?”

“New school play. It’s about the 12 Days of Christmas.”

“When is it?”

“December 20th.”

“I have a-.”

“You have a game on the 19th in Colorado.”

“But I’ll be back on the 20th. I can go. I’ll be there.”

“Jack,” Bitty had said it like a warning.

“What? I’ll be there. I have to be. I can’t miss another thing.” He poked at Bitty’s side. “What part did she get?”

“I’ll let her tell you. You’re going to love it.”

When Olivia told him she was going to be one of the six geese a laying the next morning at breakfast Jack had looked over her head at a smirking Bitty.

“Very funny.”

Olivia twisted in Jack’s lap to look up at him. “What’s funny?”

“Your dad likes to think I had some sort of connection with geese when were were in college.”

“You did!” Bitty yelled. “You were the only one they didn’t try to fight.”

“Because I gave them their space. I didn’t try to befriend them like Nursey did.”

“Is that why they posed for you?”

“They didn’t pose for me.”

But the damage had been done and they had to tell her the whole story about the geese and the pond and Bitty had dug out some of Jack’s old photographs and spread them across the table.

When Bitty announced that it was time to clean up and get dressed because he had several errands to run Olivia turned around and took Jack’s face in both of her hands.

“You’re going to come to my play?”

“Nothing is going to stop me from being there.”

Bitty probably should have stepped in and gently walked back the promise. Maybe they wouldn’t be where they are right now.

“He always does this,” Olivia says as she pushes her cereal around her bowl. “I hate it.”

Bitty bites back a half a dozen different things and hears Shitty’s voice on a loop in his head. _Feelings are always valid, feelings are always valid._

He takes a deep breath. “I know that it’s hard sometimes and I miss him when he’s gone.”

“It’s like he doesn’t even care.”

“Hey,” Bitty snaps, sharp enough to make her spoon rattle against the bowl. “He is doing the best he can. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for you. There is nothing he cares about more than you.”

“He cares about hockey more than me.”

Bitty points a finger at her. “Olivia, that is not true. It’s killing him that he’s not here.” He fills up a tall glass with water and puts it on the table next to her. “I don’t want to hear that from you again. Go put water in the tree and grab your backpack. You’re going to be late for school.”

She hops down from the chair and takes the glass into the living room. Bitty concentrates on setting the dishes in the sink without breaking them until his phone rings and Jack’s picture flashes on the screen.

“Honey, please tell me you’re on a plane right now,” Bitty says as a hello.

“Our flight has been grounded. Officially.” Jack sound miserable and Bitty slumps against the counter.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

“It’s okay. I’m going to try to get another flight out of here.”

“You and every other person in that airport.”

“I’ll figure it out. I’ll drop my name. That works, right? I’ll tell them I’ll tweet about it or whatever. I’ll be nice about the airline. That’s a thing that people do, isn’t it?”

“Sometimes but Jack, I really don’t think it’s going to work.”

“I already have it figured out. There’s a flight to LAX that has a twenty minute layover which I can absolutely make. From there I can get to Phoenix and then Chicago and then to Boston and then I’m home. I’m at the play. It’s going to be close and I’m going to have to run through every airport but I can do it.”

“You cannot kill yourself trying to get here.”

“I have to make it. I promised.”

“I know but some things are out of your control.”

“Can I talk to her?”

Bitty pauses and Jack scoffs.

“She’s already mad at me.”

“She’s 7, Jack. She got mad at me the other day because I didn’t cut the crusts off her pb&j.”

“She hates the crust.”

“ _I know that._ I forgot.”

“If I miss this play I’m going to ruin Christmas.”

“You are not. Shitty’s going to come to the play tonight and that’s enough to distract any child from anything and in a few days my parents will be up and yours will down and you’ll definitely be home and there will be so much going on-.”

“That’s not the point, Bits. I made a promise. I’m going to keep it. I have to go. I have to go make this work. You save a seat for me at that play. I’ll see you later, I love you. I love the both of you. Tell her that for me, okay?”

“Of course, Jack. We love you too.”

“I’ll see you tonight. On time. Love you, bye.”

Jack hangs up just as Olivia steps back into the room.

She has her backpack on her back with no jacket.

“Was that Papa?”

“Yes. He told me to tell you that he loves you. He’s still trying so hard to get here.”

She looks unimpressed and Bitty sighs. 

“Go get your jacket, hun. We have to get going.” 

******

“You haven’t heard from him yet?” Shitty pops another cookie in his mouth. He has crumbs in his mustache but the suit he’s wearing is wrinkle free so Bitty lets it go.

“Nope. Not since this morning. I don’t even know if he got a flight out. For all I know he’s still stuck in that airport and his phone died.”

“I’m sure someone would’ve gotten a charger for him, Bits.”

“I guess. I just wish I knew what was going on.”

“He might be in the air. You said he had to book it from flight to flight. Maybe he didn’t have the time to call.”

“How are you so optimistic about this?”

“I’ve known Jack for a long time, Bitty. When he puts his mind to something, it’s going to get done.”

“I’ve looked at the departure times and he would have to sprint to get from one to the other. It’s crazy.”

“No crazier than sprinting across campus to kiss a boy he liked.”

Bitty rolls his eyes and Shitty elbows him gently.

“Have some faith in our boy, Bitty.”

“I have all the faith in the world in him. I don’t have faith in the airlines or the weather.”

“Daddy!” Olivia calls from her room and Bitty sighs.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen if he doesn’t show up. I don’t know if I’ll be able to bear the looks on their faces.”

“Daddy, I need help with my costume!”

“Oh lord.”

“I’ll take care of that. You try to calm down a little bit. Have a drink. I’ll drive.”

“I can’t show up to a school play drunk, Shitty.”

“I didn’t say anything about being drunk but it’s interesting that your mind went there.” He peels away from Bitty in the kitchen and starts down the hall. “Olivia, my love, my goddaughter, what the hell can I help you with?”

“Language.”

“Uncle Shitty!” Olivia shrieks in delight and Bitty shakes his head and gets the carton of eggnog from the fridge and the bottle of rum from the cabinet.

******

“Bitty. Stop fidgeting.”

“I’m nervous.”

“He’s going to be here. Put your coat back on that chair.”

Jack only has five more minutes to get here before the play starts and Bitty still hasn’t received a single text from him.

Olivia had been sullen in the car on the way over and even Shitty, singing Christmas carols loud and off key, wasn’t enough to make her crack a smile.

“I feel bad holding it if it’s not going to be used,” Bitty explains but when someone walks down the aisle looking for a seat he slides his coat back onto it. “He’s running out of time.”

“Damn,” Shitty mutters. “She’s not going to start crying is she because if she starts crying I’m definitely going to start crying.”

“You can’t start crying, Shitty. I was counting on you to distract her.”

Someone sits down next to Bitty and he’s ready to tell them off because they have to be sitting on his jacket and it’s incredibly rude and he is not in the mood to be cheery and happy and forgiving.

“No, I’m sorry, but you have to move. My husband is coming and-.”

“I didn’t miss anything, did I?”

Jack is in the seat next to Bitty. He’s breathing a little heavy and his suit is a disaster but he’s holding a bouquet of flowers and kisses the side of Bitty’s head and he’s _here_.

“Jack.”

Jack nods and accepts a hug from Shitty across Bitty’s lap.

“I haven’t missed anything, have I?”

“Hasn’t started yet, bro. You’re just in time.”

“How are you even here?” Bitty asks, still shocked.

“I told you I had a plan.”

“How did it work?”

“I can’t even begin to tell you how many cities I’ve been in during the last twelve hours. I think I went back and forth over time zones at least three times but I made it.”

The lights dim and Bitty leans over and kisses Jack’s lips as the first kid, dressed like a tree with construction paper pears to it and holding a small ceramic bird, steps into the spotlight.

“On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.”

He steps back and a girl holding two stuffed animals that look more like pigeons than doves steps forward.

“On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves.”

“Geez,” Shitty whispers loudly. “We’re in for a long night.”

“Shhh,” Bitty says as he reaches over and takes Jack’s hand.

They’re quiet until Olivia comes on, dressed up like a goose and holding a papier-mâché egg in her hands. She says her line and both Shitty and Jack are on their feet clapping and whistling and Bitty scrambles to tug them both down by the back of their trousers.

“Would you please sit down,” Bitty begs. “Oh my lord, you’re both so embarrassing.”

“We’re just excited, Bits,” Shitty says and Bitty covers his face with both hands.

He knows they’re getting dirty looks from the other parents but when Olivia recognizes Jack in the audience her face lights up and waves back.

An _aww_ ripples through the audience and Shitty and Jack let themselves be pulled back down as Olivia’s teacher ushers her and her classmates to the back of the stage so the seven swans a swimming can come out.

“I’m so glad I didn’t miss that,” Jack says as he squeezes Bitty’s hand.

******

After the play is over Olivia flies down the stage stairs and right into Jack’s arms. Shitty takes the flowers from him right before they hit the ground.

“Papa, you came!”

“I told you I would,” Jack says as he lifts her off the ground.

Bitty doesn’t really feel like he’s going to cry until Shitty wraps his arm around him.

Jack and Olivia slip into french as Jack buttons her coat and they walk to the parking lot.

“Crème glacée?” Olivia asks and Jack nods.

“Isn’t it too cold for ice cream?” Bitty asks and Jack swings around to face him.

“It’s never too cold for ice cream, daddy,” Olivia says.

“It’s tradition, Bits.”

“One that I simply do not understand holding onto in this kind of weather. You two go on and have fun, I guess.”

“I’m going to need you to drive. I took a cab here. I didn’t have time to pick up my car.”

Bitty heaves a put upon sigh and Jack whispers something in Olivia’s ear.

“But Papa.”

“I know, I know. We can get ice cream next time.”

“Next time?”

“Yes, next time.”

Olivia smiles and drops her head onto Jack’s shoulder. “We can go get hot chocolate if you want.”

Bitty steps out from under Shitty’s arm and tickles her neck.

“You’d give up ice cream for me?”

“Papa said he’d take me next time.”

Jack bounces her in his arms and she sighs. “And we should do something that all of us like.”

“You’re very sweet,” Bitty says he kisses her cheek. “Why don’t you let your Uncle buckle you in, Liv. I want to talk to your papa for a second.”

“Uh oh,” Jack says as he hands her over to Shitty.

Shitty calls shotgun and Bitty waits until they’re around the other side of the car before he presses Jack back against the driver’s side door and kisses him.

“You’re a good man, Jack Zimmermann. And a great father.”

“I saved Christmas.”

“You really might have.”

“You were worried I wasn’t going to make it on time, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I was.”

“You were worried how she would react?”

“Kind of.”

“You told me it would be okay.”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“So you thought you’d just keep it all in?” He cups a hand to the side of Bitty’s face. “You have to tell me these things. It’s important.”

“I know. You should probably talk to her about why you can’t always make it. Make sure she understands that no matter what she comes first but sometimes things happen that you just can’t control.”

“She should know that already.”

“I’m sure she does but it’s nice to hear. It’s good to remind her. I think she needs that.”

“I’ll have a talk with her while I’m putting her to bed.”

“Because you know she’s going to ask for you. Now that you’re home I’m not her favorite anymore.”

“I like you just fine.”

“High praise, Mr. Zimmermann,” Bitty says with a roll of his eyes as Jack slides his hands down Bitty’s back. “We’re in public,” he says when Jack’s hands drift down to grab a handful of Bitty’s ass.

“I had a long day.” Is Jack’s only excuse and Bitty hums and kisses him until Shitty honks the horn.

“I believe we were promised hot chocolate,” he yells and they can hear Olivia laughing from the back seat.

Jack sighs and tips his head back against the car and Bitty takes the opportunity to press one more kiss to his jaw.

“We can finish this later,” he whispers before he shoulders Jack out of the way so he can open the car door.

“Hey.” Jack grabs for his hand and kisses the back of it. “I’m happy to be home.”

Bitty smiles at him as Shitty and Olivia start singing Rudolph in the car. 

“We’re happy you’re home, too.”


End file.
